TRANSLOCATIONS IN 7Q22 DEFINE A CRITICAL REGION IN UTERINE LEIOMYOMATA

Rearrangements involving the long arm of chromosome 7 in uterine leiom yoma are widely recognized and comprise one of the major cytogenetic s ubgroups of these tumors. To approach a molecular genetic investigatio n of this subgroup for identification of a gene(s) involved in the bio logy of uterine leiomyomata we have analyzed breakpoints in the del(7q ) subgroup in a series of myomas karyotyped in our laboratory. Herein we report the cytogenetic analysis of 11 uterine leiomyomata: eight wi th interstitial deletions in the long arm of chromosome 7 and three wi th translocations in 7q. These translocations provide further support for 7q22 as the critical band in the del(7q) subgroup.